Kuwait reinstates ban on Bangladesh workers over 'swelling numbers'

Kuwait has reportedly reintroduced a ban on hiring Bangladeshis after authorities eased previous restrictions on workers from the South Asian country.

Kuwaiti Interior Minister Sheikh Khalid al-Jarrah issued a decree prohibiting further work visas from being issued to Bangladeshis over a growing influx of workers from the country, al-Jarida  reported on Saturday.

A security source told the local daily that the decision came after a "significant increase" in Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait as a result of the illegal trade in work and residency permits.

The Kuwait Times  reported on Tuesday that authorities brought back the ban after statistics revealed that the Bangladeshi expat community had swelled to 200,000 people.

Kuwait's deputy foreign minister met on Monday with the visiting Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs to discuss "enhancing bilateral ties", according to the official news agency KUNA.

The state-run agency failed to mention the reported ban.

An official at the embassy of Bangladesh in Kuwait told Bangladeshi media on Monday that they have received no information about a worker ban.

Kuwait stopped recruiting Bangladeshi workers in 2007 after detecting recruitment irregularities and alleged involvement in illegal activities, according to Gulf News.

In 2014, Kuwait decided to lift the ban and in May 2016 imposed restrictions on the hiring of male domestic workers.

The death of a Filipina maid in Kuwait, whose body was found last month stuffed in a freezer, has sparked outrage in the Philippines and prompted the government to impose a departure ban on Filipinos planning to work in the Gulf state.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced the departure ban for Filipinos planning to work in Kuwait, after the murder there of 29-year-old Joanna Demafelis.

Foreign workers make up two-thirds of Kuwait's total population of 4.5 million.